The present invention relates to fasteners and to fastener installation tools and more particularly to threaded blind fasteners and to installation of threaded blind fasteners.
Blind fasteners generally use one of two basic techniques to accomplish the installation process. The first technique involves applying pulling force to a mandrel which expands a sleeve to form a bearing surface on the blind side of the joint. The second technique involves applying a rotational force to a threaded core bolt such as to cause the sleeve to be advanced and expanded. The present invention is directed to improvements in tools for installing rotatably installed blind fasteners, although certain features of the invention will have broader application and, therefore, the claims are not intended to be limited to rotatably driven fasteners unless explicitly recited therein.
Numerous hand tools are available to install threaded blind fasteners, including pneumatic handheld tools in either pistol or right angle driver configurations, and hand operated ratchet tools.